A new report from the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, finds that despite Durham County, North Carolina’s rapidly growing economy and the significant wealth accumulated by its largest universities, hospitals and corporations, many Durham residents are struggling to afford housing. The report outlines several ways Duke University and other large employers can use their resources to help address the city’s housing affordability crisis, including raising wages, investing in affordable housing, contributing land and financing and helping preserve housing that lower- and moderate-income residents can afford. The report is the third in a series published by the Institute about the disconnect between Durham's increasing prosperity and growing crises in affordable housing, school funding, and workers' wages. As the report documents, Durham County’s inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product has increased by more than 180% over the last 20 years, reaching more than $53 billion in 2024. Duke University and its affiliated Duke University Health System reported more than $22 billion in investments in 2025, while Duke University’s endowment has grown to $12.3 billion. At the same time, the median home price in the city of Durham surged from $194,244 in March 2016 to $396,395 in March 2026, an increase of 104%. Median gross rent, which includes rent and utilities, increased from about $896 a month in 2014 to roughly $1,508 in 2024, an increase of more than 68%. The report also finds: About 48% of renter households in both the city and county of Durham spent at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities in 2024, meeting the standard threshold for being housing cost-burdened. A full-time worker in the Durham area must earn at least $32.50 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home without spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The median wage for Durham workers was $26.38 an hour in 2023. That figure falls to $20.59 for Black workers and $18.26 for Latino workers. A recent Institute for Southern Studies survey found 47% of Duke University and Duke University Health System workers struggled to afford their rent or mortgage payments. About one in five Durham County homeowners with a mortgage are considered housing cost-burdened. Private equity firms owned more than 11,300 rental units in Durham as of May 2026, including more than 1,000 units each owned by Blackstone/LivCor, Harbor Group International and Starwood Capital Group. How Durham's large employers can help The report argues that Durham’s largest institutions have an important role to play in addressing the widening gap between workers’ wages and the cost of living in the city. As Durham County’s largest employer and private landowner, Duke University has significant resources that can be put toward addressing the city’s housing affordability crisis. It identifies several steps these institutions can take, including increasing pay for lower-wage workers, contributing to affordable housing funds, donating land, providing low-cost financing, preserving existing affordable apartments and offering housing assistance. As the report concludes, “By raising wages and committing more of their land, capital and resources to housing affordability, Durham’s largest institutions can help ensure that the workers and families who sustain the city can afford to remain part of its future.” This article was first published by Facing South.

This article was adapted from a social media post by the Durham Association of Educators and has been lightly edited for grammar and format. On October 1, after much debate and discussion at an all-member DAE meeting, the school staff union landed on 2026–27 Meet and Confer priorities. The ratification process allowed them to be strategic and to prioritize the most deeply felt and widely felt issues. However, this slate of priorities will only be as strong as the willingness to fight for them. Mark your calendars for October 13, when the first public Meet and Confer negotiation of the year will take place at the Staff Development Center from 6 to 8 p.m. The first economic demand, Extra Pay for Extra Work, calls on the district to follow up on providing printed annual contracts with clear duties and expectations, as agreed upon last year. DAE will also continue last year’s fight to clearly define which extra duties and roles will receive extra compensation. The second economic demand, Safe Learning Environments, asks the district to commit to prompt repairs and remediation, with clear timelines, for issues relating to HVAC, mold, pests, and other safety concerns. The union is also calling for a system of accountability that tracks the status of repairs and remediation and identifies who is responsible. The first non-economic demand, Bi-Weekly Pay, would give all hourly classified workers the option to receive either monthly pay or biweekly pay, meaning every other week, regardless of the length of the months. The second non-economic demand, Trust Workers, asks that all staff be able to work from home on non-required workdays. This should not be left up to principal or supervisor discretion. The third non-economic demand, Respect Our Time, calls for protected planning time at the beginning of the academic year and throughout the year. DAE is also seeking educator input into how required and non-required workdays are distributed throughout the calendar. The fourth non-economic demand, Keep Workers Safe, calls for updating the Inclement Weather Policy (7550) so that workers are not required to use PTO or go unpaid when school facilities are closed to students. Staff who are deemed essential and required to report to work should receive hazard pay at time and a half, and all instructional staff and non-essential classified staff should have the option of working remotely.

RTP CEO & President of RTP Scott Levitan shrugs during the August 24 Durham County Commissioners meeting It is widely assumed that the political struggles people pay the least attention to are the ones that are closest to home. AI data centers are changing this. In both red and blue states, people are crowding normally barren local government meetings to stop the plague of large-scale AI data centers from reaching their doorstep. On August 24th, the data center fight arrived in Durham, North Carolina. At a Monday evening meeting that ran from 7pm until midnight, county commissioners Mike Lee, Michelle Burton, Wendy Jacobs, Nida Allam, and Stephen Valentine appeared aligned on passing a moratorium on data centers, but divided on how comprehensive a ban should be. Despite an overwhelming majority of public comments urging a moratorium without carveouts, the commissioners voted 4-1 for a moratorium that included major loopholes. Allam was the lone dissenting vote. The most significant of these was a carveout allowing for the construction of new data centers in Durham County, as long as they are less than 100,000 square feet. County commissioners spun this as a reasonable measure to allow for the construction of so-called “enterprise” data centers, and claimed that 100,000 square feet is well short of what counts as “hyperscale.” Yet this is enough space to build a data center with a power draw of up to 100 megawatts, the equivalent of powering 80,000 households or over 63% of City of Durham households. Such a facility could further consume 530,000 or more gallons of water per day, once both on-site and indirect water consumption is accounted for. Even though the public supermajority supporting a loophole-free moratorium was largely ignored by the county commissioners this time, we should not rush into the mistaken conclusion that public hearings are unimportant or without value. The opposite is true. In fact, one of the biggest reasons why we’re seeing local governments across the country pass moratoriums on data centers in the first place is because of local communities organizing themselves to make their data center opposition as vociferous as possible inside the halls of local power. However, in places like Loudoun County, the proliferation of data centers despite this resistance belies a dirty truth about local “democracy” that speaks to the need to organize a powerful working-class movement both within and beyond the county commissioner’s chambers. One moment of the debate is worth focusing on to understand the power dynamics lurking behind what took place. After hours of deliberation and public comment, Commissioner Jacobs invites someone from the audience whom she refers to as “Mr. Levitan” to come up to the microphone to provide more context on a question she raised about the Research Triangle Park (RTP) zoning process. As Mr. Levitan makes his way to the microphone, someone else from the audience interrupts, claiming that if Mr. Levitan will be receiving an extra opportunity to speak, so should every other member of the public. The person who interrupts the meeting is then admonished by Chair Lee for interrupting. This interaction encapsulates the political fissures that underlie both Monday’s contentious meeting and local politics writ large in this country. City council and county commissioner meetings create a certain temporal illusion. During the timespan of a public hearing, local government bodies give the impression that every member of the public has an equal opportunity to influence the debate at hand by ostensibly granting every member of the public an equal amount of time to speak. The interaction described above shatters this illusion. Mr. (Scott) Levitan is not county staff, or another county commissioner. He is the CEO & President of RTP Foundation, and one of only two out of sixty speakers at the public hearing who urged the commission to vote for a moratorium with carveouts, which is what they ultimately did. Were the opinions of the two speakers who asked for the moratorium with loopholes more persuasive than all the other sixty or so speakers? Why was a particular member of the public granted extra speaking time? What would’ve happened if the interaction wasn't interrupted? While the details of exactly what happened behind closed doors are not known, we do know some things. Mike Lee publicly asked for exemptions that allow large 75-80 megawatt data centers. Since local governments in North Carolina cannot directly regulate energy use, the strategy switched to square footage. Scott Levitan was the only supporter of a 100,000 square foot loophole at an earlier work session on August 3rd. The staff who wrote the ordinance only listened to public directions from Lee and Jacobs, both of whom have never faltered to address their “stakeholders” (businesses in RTP and Treyburn) since the beginning of public meetings on this topic. The cozy relationship capitalists enjoy with many politicians isn’t breaking news. But what happened at the county commissioners meeting was a prime example of just how this undemocratic process works. Capitalists like the CEO of the RTP foundation get increased access to elected officials, shaping “the public hearing” even before “the public hearing” takes place. Furthermore, the AI-funded Trump administration’s federal budget cuts create an extra layer of economic pressure on the shoulders of Durham’s elected officials to cater to the whims of tech companies and their promises of economic development. How this development will materialize equitably from a technology whose main selling point is replacing workers, or at best paying them less to do more, remains a mystery. This is to say nothing of how the data center boom is driving up water and energy bills, sucking up water in drought-stressed areas, and delaying the energy transition. None of this is anything new in the Triangle. The history of RTP reveals that it has been a top-down, corporation-centric project from its very beginnings in the 1950s. Originally cooked up by a small group of capitalists, academics, and government officials, the “Research Triangle” development strategy was meant to change the face of North Carolina by attracting tech companies and knowledge workers to a state dominated by a few low-wage materials processing industries; namely textiles, tobacco, and furniture. While some have certainly prospered thanks to RTP, this same development strategy has time and time again reinforced class inequalities, gentrified historically Black neighborhoods, and facilitated unsustainable, unaffordable, car-centric suburbanization. It also has failed to substantially improve the lot of much of North Carolina’s working class both within and beyond the Triangle, which continues to face low wages, poor working conditions, a degraded environment, and aggressive union busting. This is precisely because RTP did not break with earlier patterns of development in North Carolina so much as supercharge them under the guidance of a detached and dictatorial technocracy. Despite their long-held sway over regional politics, the movement to oppose the data center boom increasingly has something capitalists do not: public support. A Gallup Poll from March found that seven in ten Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area. This discontent has manifested in grassroots coalitions that have emerged throughout the country. Durham’s Stop Data Centers campaign, of which NC Triangle DSA is a co-sponsor, has played an important role in organizing the community to pack local government meetings and was instrumental in obtaining a recent year-long moratorium at the city level. Although the county commissioners ultimately sided with Mr. Levitan and RTP’s business elites over the people, the fight is not over. Expected growth trends in both RTP and Duke Health arc towards a probable future of ever more consequential AI data center fights. The degree to which Durham and other cities and towns across the country will be able to thwart the whims of the AI capitalist class is dependent on the degree to which they can organize their communities to stop the rise of the Musks and the Altmans and their machines. Because ultimately, the fight over AI data centers is more than just a technocratic fight over emerging technology and its regulations. At its core, it’s a fight for our democracy, our humanity, and the land, water, and air that we all depend on to survive and to thrive. This article was first published by Triangle DSA Ecosocialism Association.

Department of Commerce and Governor's Mansion. Image credit: Carolana and Wikimedia Commons. Commerce Department and Governor’s Office must disclose state activities and dollars used to recruit community-harming corporations; media outlets invited to join. On October 1, NC WARN’s attorney filed a public records request with both the Department of Commerce and the Governor’s Office demanding the release of all records relating to state personnel involved in and resources spent recruiting data centers. Under the NC Public Records Act, state officials are required to respond. North Carolinians have a legal right to know how much tax money is being doled out to some of the world’s richest corporations that continue targeting communities across the state – and which state officials have plotted with those polluters and Duke Energy to distort and conceal critical information from the public. NC WARN invites media outlets to join our demand for full disclosure on this issue of enormous public concern. An August report by the NC Budget & Tax Center estimates the state is in the process of pouring billions of tax dollars into various incentives, tax credits and other subsidies for AI data centers. In addition, NC WARN demands to know how much time and expenses have been dedicated by state employees strategizing with data center developers, Duke Energy and others. The Center’s report notes that “data center subsidies are bad policy.” Economic development is often chanted as the justification for large projects by developers and state leaders. But among the many key points cited in the Center’s report: Data centers provide very few permanent jobs, and they are low-paid positions. Tech corporations [and state leaders] exaggerate data center jobs by including temporary construction jobs. Data centers pose numerous harms to individuals and communities. These harms include health damage from air emissions, water and noise pollution, and the disproportionate siting in communities of color and/or low wealth. Governor Stein is among those who have praised the influx of data centers to the state; he was “damn excited” about Amazon’s construction of a data center in Richmond County. That’s softened a bit in recent months as public backlash across the state and nation has accelerated and as more is exposed about the harms of hyper-scale data centers, including the soaring power bills they cause for other electricity users. Now, state leaders must begin making amends by coming clean. They must stop using nondisclosure agreements and claims of trade secrets to block the public’s view and enact a statewide, two-year moratorium on data centers as we all assess the damage being done. Since June, NC WARN has called on Gov. Stein to ban Duke Energy from spending millions annually to recruit data centers as the sole justification for planning the nation’s largest buildout of fossil fuel generation. Why should a state-sanctioned monopoly be allowed to spend captive-customer money to pad its profits while driving up power bills and the global climate crisis? There’s no straightforward way that we can force Duke Energy to divulge how many millions it spends annually to recruit dozens of controversial AI data centers. But under state law, agencies and officials must turn over all pertinent records – or face legal action. It is indefensible for state leaders to use taxpayer money to fund the polluters that work against the public interest. It’s even worse that they keep doing so in the shadows. This article was first published by NC WARN.

In September, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the creation of an Office of Worker Power, which will help workers understand their rights, connect with unions, and organize for better pay and conditions. The Office will also crack down on abusive employers. Union density in NYC stands at around 10 percent. Durham's is 2 to 3 percent, far below similarly sized cities in rich countries such as Japan's Kasugai (21 percent) or Germany's Mannheim (17 percent). After the announcement, a corporate envoy told the New York Times that, "Government should set fair rules and be the referee, not put its thumb on the scale especially when other cities aren't doing the same." But Durham should do the same. An Office of Worker Power would raise wages, deepen local democracy, help to unite Durham's divided progressives, enrich working people's lives, and spread the city's progressive politics across North Carolina. Unions help workers to improve their pay and conditions, but employees trying to organize are vulnerable to swift, illegal retaliation. During the New Deal era, unions helped the working class win a larger share of national income, and union workers today still earn roughly 10 to 20 percent more than their non-union peers. The Duke Graduate Students Union, one of Durham's largest new unions, won recognition in 2022 and has since raised stipends from $34,660 to $42,500, a 12 percent increase after inflation. Workers who tried to organize at Durham Food Hall in 2025 might eventually have won similar gains, but key leaders like Kai Bradley were fired. Firing workers for organizing is illegal, but the law is not enforced. Isolated workers under pressure from their boss can be made to feel that organizing is almost illegal. By lending new unions the prestige of local government when they are weakest, the Office of Worker Power could dispel that impression. Firms often threaten to relocate when workers organize, but many of Durham's largest employers can't leave or would have little reason to. Duke University and Duke Health, together the county's biggest employer, aren't going anywhere. The rest of the health sector also needs to stay near its patients. Delivery services like Amazon and chains like Starbucks wouldn’t be able to escape the Office's reach without giving up their Durham customers. Restaurants, which commonly rely on low-wage labor, are also fixed in place. The area’s second-largest employer, Durham Public Schools, is already organized. The Durham Association of Educators has used a "meet and confer" strategy to fight for better pay and resources. It has majority membership and growing political clout despite North Carolina's right-to-work law and its ban on formally recognizing public-sector unions. The third-largest employer, Cisco, pays an average salary above $120,000, so its workers are less likely to push for a union, or would probably focus on quality-of-life issues if they did. Either way, the Office could focus on workplaces that would find it hard to relocate. The Office of Worker Power could help revive Durham's moribund democracy. A 2024 Bull City Public Investigator article found that two PACs, the People's Alliance and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, dominate local politics: "In the past decade, every winning candidate in local races has been endorsed by at least one of these two PACs" [1]. The article also covered two other influential groups, the Friends of Durham and the Durham Association of Educators, noting that fewer than 650 people often decide all four groups' endorsements in a city of over 300,000. Turnout in local elections hovers around 20 percent. Unions have traditionally been the backbone of worker power in advanced economies. Democracy can't function with union density in the single digits, since workers have no vehicle to enter the political arena. If the Office can boost union density, the elected representatives of those unions would give a strong, influential voice to thousands of people. Farther down the road, if unions spread and federate, government could come to mirror the structure of the economy, fitting it like a glove. Making Durham a labor stronghold is one of the best ways to counter the NC GOP's undemocratic grip on state government. Republicans have used gerrymandering to weaken progressive cities like Durham in both the General Assembly and Congress, but unions can't be gerrymandered. UE Local 150, for example, has significant strength in liberal areas like Durham and Mecklenburg counties but has also organized workers in Granville, Lenoir, Wayne, and other Republican-voting counties. Durham could punch far above its political weight if the unions it incubates spread outward and reshape the political economy of surrounding areas. The Office of Worker Power could also help unite Durham's progressive leaders, who have been divided for years over development, especially annexations and rezonings. Yet both camps, roughly the factions led by Nida Allam and Nate Baker, strongly support unions. In June 2025, the city council unanimously passed a resolution encouraging Amazon workers to unionize with CAUSE. Baker, Javiera Caballero, and Matt Kopac attended a CAUSE rally at Amazon's DRT8 facility in February 2026. Allam, unable to attend, sent a message of support. Building the Office together wouldn't heal a divide with complex roots, but it would give both blocs a worthwhile shared project. A focus on unions could also do more for working people than almost anything else. Housing affordability and rational urban planning matter, and the city should fully use its zoning powers toward them, but much of the power over these issues is locked away at the state and federal level. Raising union density is incredibly difficult, but nothing stops the city from directing staff to support labor activists. An Office of Worker Power would give Durham's people more room to reach their full potential. Most workers spend their lives in corporations, private dictatorships where orders flow from the top down. At the bottom, people rent themselves out for a wage and are treated as tools, with only a fraction of their talents put to use. That leaves unmet basic human needs such as freedom, creative work, and self-improvement. Unions help meet those needs by forcing corporations to let some decisions and ideas come from the bottom up. Labor activism can also enrich members' lives far beyond the workplace. REI Union Durham, for example, is fighting for a first contract with better pay and working conditions, but its members also helped establish the Durham Labor Choir, which draws hundreds of people to sold-out shows. Proceeds go to strike funds. By loosening the grip of corporate power, more unions would give Durham’s people the breathing room to develop their full potential and varied talents. The Office of Worker Power should focus on strategic goals with implications beyond Durham, such as helping workers form a union at a McDonald's, Walmart, or Amazon warehouse. CAUSE spent years trying to unionize the RDU1 Amazon warehouse in Garner but lost its NLRB election in February 2025. On top of the usual challenges, the campaign got little public or political support in the town. Durham is much friendlier to unions, which is part of why CAUSE started organizing several Amazon sites here in late 2025. Successful organizing at one of these corporations, all notorious for union-busting, could inspire working people across the state and country and spark more wins elsewhere. It would give a blue-dot city like Durham a way to exercise major power, slipping the fetters of the NC GOP's gerrymander. An Office of Worker Power can help Durham do more than its share to move history forward. Work Cited "Do PAC Endorsements Matter in Durham Politics?" Bull City Public Investigators, 1 March 2024, bcpi.substack.com/p/do-pac-endorsements-matter-in-durham.

Image credit: NC Triangle DSA On July 3rd, NC Triangle Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) announced its chapter had reached 1,000 members in good standing. This makes Triangle DSA not only one of the largest DSA chapters in the country, but likely the largest socialist organization in Triangle-area history. The chapter’s growth comes alongside a wave of DSA successes throughout the country, which have put a spotlight on the organization. Part of the Democratic Party has responded by tacking left, hoping to capture some of the popularity behind DSA figures like NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14). Business-oriented Democrats have met the rise of the DSA with indignation: the centrist think tank Third Way vowed to spend $15 million to fight the DSA and its candidates, while a group of establishment Democrats led by Representative Tom Suozzi (NY-3) signed an open letter calling for Democrats to reject socialism. Fox News now runs near-daily segments on the DSA, decrying the organization and its members as un-American communists hellbent on the nation’s destruction. Republicans, unable to run on their governing record, are hoping that red-baiting will boost the party’s chances in the midterm elections. Missing from most mainstream coverage are the voices of those within the organization. How does Triangle DSA feel about its growing strength? What do they believe is driving the organization's momentum? What do they plan on doing with this newfound notoriety? Soon after the chapter reached 1,000 members, The Bull-etin contacted Triangle DSA’s Steering Committee to discuss and reflect on this milestone in the chapter’s history, sitting down for an extended interview with Alex C, the Steering Committee’s Membership Coordinator and a co-chair of the chapter’s administrative committee. Some answers have been edited for length and clarity. What do they think is driving the recent growth in both the NC Triangle and National DSA? The Steering Committee answered: “Americans are frustrated with our political and economic system. Working class people are feeling squeezed by a system that is designed to work for the owning class, and we’re tired of it. People are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, we’re watching our planet be destroyed, people being abducted and murdered in the streets by ICE, and there is extreme repression happening abroad, all so that the ruling class can amass ever more profit. “People are ready for an alternative, and the DSA is showing how working-class people can build a better world through organized, collective action. Our political horizon is socialism – a system where working-class people hold all political and economic power, and we use that power to meet people’s basic needs, to heal our relationship with the earth, and to bring about a world free of imperialism. People find that inspiring, and they see that we have a realistic path to victory and want to get involved. “… North Carolina in particular is a microcosm for the ills of capitalism and its sham democracy. Our districts are gerrymandered and state government officials take brides from corporations like Duke Energy, Smithfield, and Amazon to pollute our land, water, and air. So-called “right to work” laws and bans on public sector bargaining prevent workers from improving their conditions[1]. Rent control is illegal [2], and policies that favor landlords over tenant power abound. Women, transgender, and gender non-conforming people face constant attacks on their bodily autonomy and human dignity. Our communities are increasingly impacted by climate disasters, like Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Chantal, while survivors are left on their own to rebuild. “When people are faced with these sorts of precarious and inhumane conditions, they’re going to spontaneously rise up and resist. But what DSA is doing is trying to transform these spontaneous uprisings into organized collective action that is aimed at socialist transformation. We want to seize that energy and turn it into an opportunity. We want to lead the working class and oppressed people to winning their own liberation.” Alex expanded on the specific conditions in the Research Triangle that have led to the DSA’s success: “The Triangle brings in a lot of students and young professionals - people experiencing ever-increasing precarity. Students go to grad school, or undergrad, expecting a certain path laid out in front of them, and those opportunities are disappearing quickly. The kinds of opportunities that were available to college-educated Americans 20 or 30 years ago are becoming less and less common. “In addition, the Triangle has a lot of poverty, homelessness, and gentrification [3]. That precarity isn’t only felt by young people who come here excited about their future, but by those native to the Triangle as well … When you put people in those conditions, especially as their own living standards decline, they’re not going to tolerate it. They’re going to want to act. DSA is really showing people that through organized collective struggle we can do something, that there’s a path to victory - the movement toward socialism. DSA is leading that movement, and people get excited about that. “Finally, we also have a lot of people who aren’t from the United States who either migrate here or come here to study. The interaction between students, locals, and foreign born residents raises awareness and consciousness about the role of the American empire and the destruction it creates. I first became aware of Palestine and Israel’s occupation through someone I went to college with who was Palestinian. They inspired me to learn more.” While local conditions may have laid the foundation for the Triangle DSA’s growth, national and international events are often cited as the cause of increased recruitment. This was true for Alex, who credits the chapter's response to the Israeli genocide of Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip for bringing him into the organization: “A lot of people were energized to join the DSA by Bernie in 2016, but I was jaded by that point. It was really seeing DSA, and especially Triangle DSA, come out boldly in favor of Palestine and really distinguishing themselves from the Democrats that inspired me to check DSA out.” The Steering Committee agreed that national events can cause large spikes in chapter membership. However, they pointed out that there is a difference between spikes and sustained, dedicated membership. They credited this more durable, prolonged growth to their success: “Triangle DSA's membership spikes, like with most DSA chapters, are mainly driven by earned national media cycles and significant events that motivate people to get involved. The most significant ones that stand out in recent memory are the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign, the general uprising after the murder of George Floyd, Trump's re-election, the waves of solidarity with the Palestinian people since October 7, and the recent DSA electoral victories. “However, while these events have driven the greatest formal numerical growth, in our experience, the greatest sustained increases in activity have actually come after major internal debates, through direct recruitment into our external-facing work, and through our Member-Leader program, which is a peer-operated leadership course of organizing skills and political fundamentals. “For many people, DSA is the first time they have had a truly democratic stake in the direction of anything in their lives, let alone a political organization. The first time they have seen for themselves that ordinary people, when organized, can exercise real power and influence, and the first time they have experienced an organization that invests proactive institutional effort into demystifying the skills and knowledge that more experienced members have. Experiences like those transform people who come to DSA into long-term fighters for a democratic world.” Alex talked about the experience of new members participating in a democratic organization: “We live in a society that calls itself a democracy, but really money dictates outcomes. The candidate with the largest backing from corporate funders is often the one who wins. Not always, as DSA is showing … Working-class and oppressed people, when they’re organized and have socialism as their common horizon, can defeat those corporate interests, can defeat the ruling class. In DSA, money doesn’t rule what we do. We’re a member-led, member-funded organization. Everything we do is determined by our members. That’s an experience most people aren’t familiar with. “DSA gives people the opportunity to organize around an idea, build buy-in with their comrades, craft and work together on a campaign, and execute it. It doesn’t always work. But even when it fails, you work together to debrief what worked, what didn’t, and determine how you could improve. You develop skills and you develop political understanding. I’m a big believer that participation in DSA, when it goes well, is a transformative experience.” DSA is not the first left-wing organization in the US to utilize grassroots democracy, but it has surpassed the size and scope of its predecessors. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the organization often credited with sparking the “New Left” in America, and a direct predecessor to the DSA, reached roughly 350 chapters and 40,000 members before the organization splintered due to irreconcilable political infighting. By contrast, DSA has managed to contain most of the infighting within the bounds of official procedures. That pressure valve has given the organization a comparatively long life and allowed its chapters to harness collective action to punch above their weight. Triangle DSA has seen impressive success in recent years. Since 2021, the chapter has helped elect three endorsed candidates to political office: Danny Nowell to the Carrboro Town Council in 2021, Nate Baker was to Durham City Council in 2023, and Natalie Bent-Kitaif to the Durham Public Schools Board of Education in 2026. All three are DSA members. Bent-Kitaif won only recently, but Baker and Nowell have been building impressive resumes since taking office. The Steering Committee highlighted some of their accomplishments: “Nowell authored the state’s first Gaza ceasefire resolution in 2023 and supported the chapter in successfully organizing for a 2023 expansion of the Bolin Creek Greenway in Carrboro. Baker organized with the chapter to launch the Duke Respect Durham campaign calling on Duke to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to Durham, and in office has won funding for Durham’s Name Change Fund, fare-free buses, and city worker raises.” The Steering Committee highlighted three of the chapter’s most important campaigns: Abort Fake Clinics (AFC), the Data Center Moratorium, and No Appetite 4 Apartheid (NA4A). “Launched by Triangle DSA in 2022, AFC grew out of the chapter’s Socialist Feminist Working Group and is dedicated to removing crisis pregnancy centers, evangelical-funded anti-abortion centers, from the Triangle. Gateway Women’s Care, an anti-abortion center in Raleigh, closed last year after protests against the center’s landlord led by AFC and NC State Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). Triangle DSA immediately moved on to the Gateway Women’s Care in Durham, which it has picketed repeatedly. “A pillar of the AFC campaign is to disrupt the demand for these centers, that is rooted in this country’s lack of free healthcare, by supplying material aid to support reproductive health and bodily autonomy in the Triangle community. AFC has hosted several successful events mobilizing community members to prepare post-abortion care bags for local women’s shelters and mutual aid hubs, with the most recent event seeing donations of nearly 2,000 pads and other self-care items. “Our chapter Eco-socialism Association is fighting back against the expansion of data centers. We don’t want technology that’s sucking up water and energy, fueling mass surveillance, and being used to suppress wages forced down our throat. We are going to keep organizing for a long-term ban on new data centers and for the democratic, transparent, and ecologically sane use of technology. “Finally, Triangle DSA’s NA4A campaign was launched in 2024 as part of the national NA4A movement to boycott products that are produced in Israel or by companies that support the Zionist occupation of Palestine. NA4A’s efforts led to Bean Traders Coffee Roasters in Durham removing Sabra hummus from their menu. The campaign has also organized several sold-out hummus making nights led by a Palestinian community member to build solidarity and community in the Triangle around anti-apartheid organizing.” In early August, Durham County Commissioners voted in favor of a 9-month moratorium on data center expansions. Alex noted that the moratorium passed, but was seriously flawed: “It passed, but not the version we wanted. We wanted a data center moratorium with no carve-outs. The one that passed did have carve-outs, and it was watered-down … it made an exception for data centers 100,000 square feet or less. Data centers that size can still be very resource-intensive. We were really pushing for a moratorium with no exemptions, and that didn’t pass. A county commissioner brought an amendment to eliminate the carve-outs, and none of the other commissioners supported it. It was very frustrating. “Only two people spoke against our position. One spoke against the moratorium altogether, some RTP-linked lobbyist, and another was with the NC Chamber of Commerce, speaking in favor of the moratorium with the carve-out. The vast majority of people there were speaking against it from all different angles. Yet, the county commissioners chose to prioritize corporate interests over the people of Durham.” The final results of the data center moratorium vote highlights both the current extent and limits of the grassroots influence in the triangle. While the combined effort of multiple grassroots organizations, community members, and advocates was able to apply enough pressure to pass a weak moratorium, it will take a longer effort to force the Durham County Commission to overcome the influence of the local business establishment. Only one commissioner, Nida Allam, voted against the weakened moratorium, arguing that the 100,000-square-foot loophole should be closed. Although there is clearly a long way to go before a socialist transformation in the United States, the Triangle DSA representatives showed a great deal of optimism for the future. It was clear in both interviews that the chapter sees its success tied to the hostility both political parties show toward the interests of working-class Americans. Since Democratic Party leadership is slow to change, and the Trumpist right wing continues to wreak havoc, DSA's mission remains clear. Alex summarized this feeling with a call to action: “I’d just encourage people, if you’re frustrated with the status quo in which corporate profits and the ruling class dictate what goes on in society; if you’re frustrated by investment in data centers; shocked that our leaders are destroying our planet, leading to increasingly severe and frequent climate disasters like Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Chantal; horrified by increasing imperialist aggression, whether it’s attacks on Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, or Palestine; if you’re frustrated with the way the world is, I’d encourage you to join DSA. “Go to a meeting, talk to people, learn what DSA is about. Because ultimately, it’s through working-class and oppressed people coming together, getting involved, and fighting for something better that we’re going to win and change the world. I want to encourage people to take that step and get activated. That’s how we’re going to win, and we are going to win. I want people to be part of that.” [1] According to a 2024 report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina has the lowest rate of union participation in the country, with only 2.4% of its workforce represented by a union. [2] Rent control has been banned in North Carolina since 1987, with no carve outs for cities to enact any form of rent stabilization, even if their local populations vote for it. [3] The rate of homelessness in the Research Triangle, like in much of the country, has continued to climb since 2020. As of 2025, the estimated number of unhoused residents in the Triangle was 1,788, 15% higher than in 2024.

Statement from August 30, 2026 A Constitution built by workers. A new government elected by workers. On Saturday, August 29, Amazon workers from across CAUSE held a Constitutional Convention and adopted a new Constitution for Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment. The Convention also elected the officers who will lead our first constitutional government: · President-elect Italo Medelius, SNC3 · Vice President-elect Mary Hill, RDU1 · Secretary of the Treasury-elect Monique Ingram, RDU1 · Secretary of the Union-elect Emma Parent, RDU1 · Secretary of the Exterior-elect Ras Ran Amon, RDU1 · Secretary of the Interior-elect Kyle Brouhard, RDU5 · Secretary of Communications-elect Edgar Arrieta Reyes, SNC3 The Constitution also recognizes President Rev. Ryan Brown and Mary Hill as Co-Founders and continuing members of the Executive Branch. For months, CAUSE workers debated what kind of Union we wanted to build, how power should be exercised, what rights every member should possess, and how workers across different Amazon facilities could govern ourselves together. On Saturday, we formed that worker-led Republic. Now, we turn our eyes toward the Empire. On Labor Day, September 7, our newly elected officers take office. Amazon: don't blink! Statement from September 8, 2026 What a Labor Day! Yesterday, there was hardly an empty inch in the room as Amazon workers, elected officials, clergy, labor and community allies, friends, and family packed together to witness a new chapter in the history of CAUSE. Amazing members of the Durham City Council joined us, along with county commissioners and so many of the people who have stood beside us through the years. One by one, our newly elected officers raised their hands and took their oaths of office. And with those oaths, CAUSE crossed an important threshold: from the "Moses" generation that founded this union and carried it through its earliest struggles to a second "Joshua" generation entrusted with carrying that work forward. There was laughter. There were tears. There was a broken air conditioner. There was champagne. And above all, there was a room overflowing with people who believe Amazon workers deserve a union of their own. To everyone who squeezed into that room with us: thank you. To our founding generation: thank you for bringing us here. And to the workers who now inherit what they built: the work begins. From the final words of yesterday's inaugural address: Amazon - don't blink! This article was first published by CAUSE in this post and this post.

Amazon data center in Virginia. Image credit: New York Times / Reuters Members of the Stop Data Centers in Durham Coalition and other concerned residents attended the general public comment period of the Durham County Commissioner Work Session on Tuesday, September 8 to demand Commissioners Lee, Jacobs, Burton, and Valentine stop selling out Durham and delete their massive loopholes allowing 100,000 sq. ft. data centers, which can use 100 MW of energy. That’s hyperscale! Only commissioner Allam stood with residents against this carve out. The only way we can assure all of Durham is protected from AI and data center harms is to strictly regulate all of it. Since data centers aren't yet defined in our land use policies, Durham residents are demanding that commissioners seize this opportunity and uphold their civic duty to safeguard Durham now and for generations to come. On August 24, all 61 residents (except two two paid lobbyists) who spoke at the county hearing demanded a real moratorium without loopholes, including teachers, city workers, military vets, tech workers (even ones working in RTP), Black residents living near RTP, and so many more. The only voices in support of gutting protections were two corporate lobbyists: one from the RTP Foundation and another from the Chamber of Commerce. Lee, Jacobs, Burton and Valentine voted to fulfill the corporate lobbyists’ wishes against the will of the people of Durham. Contrary to the four corporate-aligned commissioners’ public statements, which much of the press published as fact, 100,000 sq ft is not “small”. A typical Home Depot warehouse is this size and uses about 0.5 MW of energy. 100,000 sq ft data centers, however, can use 100 MW of energy, enough to power 80,000 to 100,000 homes! Since existing data centers in Durham already use 82 to 100 MW of energy, just three more built out at the highest allowed capacity would mean data centers in Durham would use as much energy as all residents of our city and county combined. However, Planning Director Sara Young admitted the department isn’t monitoring the industry or its harms here. She also said she has no idea how many data centers already exist in Durham since they can be filed under different uses, thus, their existing impact can be well over the previous approximation. The county’s major loophole also means that any company that submits a permit for a new data center or an expansion before they close the loophole or pass strong permanent protections is allowed to use 24/7 methane gas generators and cause constant noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution, PFAS in our drinking water, job loss, surveillance, energy rate hikes, and so much more. Chair Lee, who works for an agentic AI company called Avalara, led the charge for loopholes stating he wanted exemptions for data centers from 75 to 80 MW (60,000 to 80,000 homes' worth of energy each) at the August 3rd Work Session. This is also considered hyperscale! The Planning Department clarified that they cannot monitor energy or water use. Even though size is not an accurate indicator of resource use and impact, they went with 100,000 sq. ft. allowances, which aligned with Lee’s preferences. Lee admitted he had a conflict of interest via email to the Stop Data Centers in Durham Coalition by saying, “unless your coalition has carve-outs for companies with regular-sized data centers, such as the company I work at, I am not interested in meeting. I cannot support a blanket ban or moratorium on data centers when I rely on them in my work every single day.” However, he refused to recuse himself and continued presiding over the process of regulating the industry he works for, which has resulted in the worst moratorium in the entire state. The Stop Data Centers In Durham Coalition and residents across the city and county will continue to turn out and remind our reps that we are the biggest stakeholders in Durham and deserve a say in what gets developed here. Our electeds were elected to represent our best interests and our health, not the financial interests of the 1%. The Stop Data Centers In Durham Coalition is calling on residents to join them in the fight to close the loopholes and win the best permanent protections for all of Durham! Learn more here. This article was first emailed out as a press release by Community Land and Power, a Durham-based land, housing, and environmental justice organization. They are coordinating the Stop Data Centers in Durham Coalition.

This article is a transcript of a USSW interview with three DGSU workers. Jaeyeon Yoo: On this day in Southern labor history, August 22nd 2023, the Duke Graduate Student Union won our NLRB election. Anita Simha: We became the first unionized graduate workers at a private university in the South. Kerry Eller: And the largest union election to be won in North Carolina since 2008. Yoo: Something that was really incredible about our 88% extremely majority landslide win was how hard we had to organize to get there. Simha: Graduate students at Duke had been organizing for quite a while, but in 2016 the National Labor Relations Board overturned its previous decision and declared that grad students were indeed workers employed by the university, and so they were eligible to unionize. Yoo: In 2016 there was a union election, but it failed, and some part of that was due to the large amount of union-busting Duke was doing. Simha: Even though DGSU didn't win recognition in that moment, it sort of set the stage for us to win in the future. Eller: In the summer of 2022, I remember being in a meeting with a few other organizers and suddenly was thrown into this whirlwind of, "We're actually going to do this thing this year - this is the year we're going to become a recognized union. What's our game plan?" Simha: We formed an organizing committee, made assignments, and hit the ground running right when the academic year got started - canvassing every single department, mapping and charting to make sure we knew who all there was to connect with, and forming real relationships. Yoo: When we launched our card drive in 2022, we were immediately met with the highest pay raise Duke had given us so far. We got jumped to $38K. That was Duke's direct response to us launching our card drive, because clearly they didn't want us to unionize. We knew from the beginning that pay and stipend were maybe the number one concern on the table for most graduate students, because the living wage in Durham kept going up and our stipends and salaries weren't keeping up. So that was a really exciting incentive to keep organizing and launch our card campaign, which continued until we filed in February. Simha: We were able to officially submit our petition for unionization with a strong majority of grad students signed on, and at that point Duke sort of had two choices: either recognize us or fight us every step of the way. Of course, they chose to fight. Eller: The university tried to overturn not only our right to organize as grad workers, but also the right for grad workers across the country to unionize. They were just trying to string the election process out more. We were able to get about 40 people to turn out to this hearing process. The university wasn't expecting that many of us, and the lawyers immediately were quaking and trying to come up with ways to make the hearing process go quicker once they realized how many of us really cared about this. Simha: Grad students were pretty fed up with a lot of our working conditions. We were paying over $500 a year just to park - paying to work. Our wages weren't keeping up with inflation. In some cases, grad student workers were complaining of mold and snakes in their building after flooding. A range of conditions that had a lot of us felt left behind. Yoo: Once we realized we had a summer election, we really needed to scramble, because it's summer and a lot of people are out of town doing fieldwork or research. It involved a lot of phone banking and telling people, "We have an election and it's happening right now." Eller: On the day of the election, I was standing in this conference room space that we had reserved for everyone to come have a big watch party with us while they tallied the votes at the NLRB office in Winston-Salem. Simha: It felt really special to be in the room where they were opening envelopes and just saying "yes, yes, yes" over and over. Eller: There was this big energy in the room as we watched the "yes" votes start taking over, like two whiteboards worth of space, while the "no" votes on the other side of the room were still only a few hand widths wide or so. Yoo: The moment I realized we'd won, I was like, "Oh my God." It was a really incredible moment, but I couldn't do anything because I was sitting there with a pencil and needed to keep marking the votes. I was just sitting there thinking, "We won, we won, we won," and trying to do the mental math in my head. It’s not my strong suit, since I'm a literature person. Then it got to the point where even I, with my math skills, knew we had won by a vast supermajority. All of us, the Duke grad union people in the room, wanted to just stop and party, but we needed to count through the rest of the votes until we finally got to those thousand "yes" votes. It felt like one of the biggest events I've been part of in my life so far. Simha: It felt particularly significant to win so big in the South, because I think the South often gets discounted as a place to organize. Even though we had fewer resources than other grad unions across the country, there were enough of us across campus who were ready to step up and be leaders that we were able to win. We were only able to win because so many of us were ready to fight. For me, winning this election was a great, tangible reminder that when we fight, we really can and do win.

The City of Durham sought a no-contact order to stop Amanda Wallace, founder of Operation Stop CPS, from protesting family separation. Movement for Family Power, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the ACLU of North Carolina today filed an appeal on behalf of Amanda Wallace, a Durham activist protesting family separation who was silenced with a no-contact order issued under the North Carolina Workplace Violence Prevention Act (WVPA). The appeal argues that the no-contact order violates the First Amendment in two ways. First, by restricting Ms. Wallace’s freedom of movement and speech in response to protected criticism of a public official. And second, by imposing unconstitutional restrictions on her political advocacy, including restrictions on the words she can use. It also argues that the WVPA cannot be leveraged to punish non-violent protest. The WVPA was originally passed in 2004 to protect survivors of intimate partner violence from harassment at work. But instead of its intended purpose, it is now being used to suppress speech that is protected by the First Amendment. Durham County’s attempt to silence Ms. Wallace is not an isolated incident. In 2025, amid protests by Amazon workers and labor activists, North Carolina passed a law expanding the WVPA to allow employers to seek restraining orders against “mass picketing.” Ms. Wallace leads Operation Stop CPS, a grassroots campaign that educates the community about the harms of the “child welfare system,” which many activists refer to as the “family policing system.” This advocacy is informed by ten years Ms. Wallace spent working as a child welfare investigator in North Carolina. Since June 2022, she has engaged in regular public protests against the Durham County Department of Social Services’ (DSS) disproportionate targeting and separation of Black and low-income families. Nationally, one in ten Black children is removed from their parents by this system. Black children are similarly overrepresented in North Carolina’s foster system–and in Durham, where Ms. Wallace organizes, every single parent whose parental rights were permanently terminated in 2021-22 was Black, except one. In response to Ms. Wallace’s protests, Durham County petitioned for a civil no-contact order on behalf of DSS Director Maggie Clapp under the WVPA, alleging that Ms. Wallace’s behavior constituted harassment. At the hearing on the petition, over 50 activists from across the nation packed the courthouse in support of Ms. Wallace, but the district court judge issued the order despite their concerns. The appeal asks the North Carolina Court of Appeals to vacate the no-contact order, affirm that Ms. Wallace's advocacy is protected by the First Amendment, and affirm that the WVPA cannot be used to suppress protected political speech. “The mission of Operation Stop CPS is to abolish the family policing system because it is working exactly as it was designed,” said Amanda Wallace, who is seeking to appeal her no-contact order. “When you challenge powerful institutions, those institutions often try to silence you—so Durham’s tactics are not a surprise. I won’t stop speaking out, because the families harmed by this system can’t afford for people to be silent. No matter how many legal obstacles are put in front of me, I’ll continue exposing the harms of family policing and advocating for its abolition.” “North Carolina’s unlawful silencing of Amanda Wallace is part of a broader effort to chill speech that exposes the violence and scale of forced family separation in the United States. As ICE and the police separate families in plain view, community organizers like Amanda are exposing how the family policing (‘child welfare’) system quietly does the same thing to families every day across the county—most especially to Black families,” said Miriam Mack, Campaigns & Advocacy Director and Senior Legal Counsel at Movement for Family Power. “The state’s targeting of Black families is not an unfortunate outcome of the system, it is by design.” “At its core, this case is about whether public officials can weaponize a statute intended to protect survivors of intimate partner violence at their workplace against their constituents, in order to silence speech they find uncomfortable and suppress a movement they dislike,” said Adina Marx-Arpadi, attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights. “They cannot.” “The freedom to criticize the government and public officials is central to the First Amendment,” said Jacqueline Landry, legal fellow for the ACLU of North Carolina. “If we allow state agents to use no-contact orders to stifle political dissent, we silence the free exchange of ideas that underlies our system of democratic governance.” The legal brief in support of Ms. Wallace’s appeal can be found here. This article was first published by the ACLU of North Carolina.

On August 15, around 20 people gathered at Worthdale Park in Southeast Raleigh for "WakeMed & Atrium Health: A Marriage, Not a Takeover", a mock wedding ceremony organized by the Triangle DSA to criticize the proposed merger of the two hospital systems. Under the terms of a deal that has not been publicly released, Atrium says it would create more than 3,000 jobs over a five-year period and invest $2 billion into WakeMed facilities. In exchange, Atrium would gain control of WakeMed’s board through direct appointment of six board members, indirect veto power over the other eight seats, and power to remove board members for certain causes [1]. As attendees trickled into the picnic shelter around noon, organizers from the Socialists-in-Office committee put finishing touches on their scripts. The groom, bride, and officiant roles had been cast in advance, while others were left open for volunteers to step in. "Here Comes the Bride" played to kick off the skit, which lasted a few minutes. The officiant’s lines criticized the speed of the merger and the lack of public input. In his vows, the groom declared, “I, Atrium Health, take you, WakeMed, to be my strategically acquired partner. As we keep telling the press, this is a marriage, not a sale.” Atrium made its $2 billion offer in May 2026. That same month, UNC Health sent WakeMed an unsolicited proposal of $5 billion, which WakeMed declined in favor of Atrium’s offer. That decision prompted many to ask, as The Assembly did in a recent article, “why would WakeMed say no to $3 billion?” [2] Next came the bride’s vows. “I promise,” she said, “to abandon my historically strong connection to the local community. Especially for historically Black neighborhoods like Southeast Raleigh that heavily rely on my flagship hospital.” When the officiant asked if anyone objected to the union, three members of the audience jumped up. They argued that the merger could weaken oversight from the Wake County Commission and lead to patients being charged more money for lower-quality care. State Treasurer Brad Briner has also raised concerns that Atrium could be tempted to raise prices to market levels. WakeMed’s rates currently run 10% to 30% lower than UNC’s and Duke’s [3]. After the skit, attendees ate pizza and wedding cake in the 90-degree heat, swatting away mosquitos. Elected officials or candidates for office (zero) were outnumbered by kids (two) brought along by their parents. After people had a chance to socialize, an organizer gave a speech with more details about the merger. “I would say not just is Atrium getting the board seats of WakeMed, but Atrium is being named the ‘sole member’ of WakeMed,” they said. “Legally, that means the owners. The members of a nonprofit are the owners of a nonprofit. Regardless of what happens with the board, Atrium is being named the sole owner of WakeMed. There will be multiple layers of transfer of control. Where WakeMed is currently controlled by the county, it will now be controlled by Atrium in so many ways where it will be impossible for the county to exercise any influence over WakeMed if this goes through. They’re putting $2 billion into the community, but they’re just spending it on their own facilities at this point. It doesn’t mean that much.” Triangle DSA used Saturday's event to build turnout for a public hearing on the merger at the Wake County Commission on Monday, August 17. Organizers said that WakeMed and Atrium employees could face pressure to speak favorably about the deal, or not speak at all, making it important for community members and critical voices to attend the hearing. At a July 27 town hall about the merger, an attendee said that WakeMed CEO Donald Gintzig "does not care" about its negative impact. Gintzig responded, "That's not very respectful, I hope you don't work at WakeMed" [4]. Gintzig earned $1.9 million in 2024. Atrium CEO Gene Woods made $25.8 million in the same year [5]. The United States is the only wealthy country in the world that does not guarantee healthcare as a basic right. Americans carry $220 billion in medical debt. Life expectancy in North Carolina is 76 to 77 years, a year or two lower than Cuba, which is sanctioned and besieged by the United States. Life expectancy for Black residents of North Carolina is 73 to 74 years, compared to 78 years in Iran, which is being bombed and blockaded by the United States. Work Cited Wilkinson, Nolan. "What People Said at Wake County's Hearing on WakeMed-Atrium Health Merger." The News & Observer, 18 Aug. 2026, www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article316910911.html. Still, Johanna F. "Why Would WakeMed Say No to $3 Billion?" The Assembly, 11 Aug. 2026, www.theassemblync.com/news/health/wakemed-unc-health-atrium-offer/. BusinessNC. "Atrium, WakeMed Make Their Merger Case to Wake Leaders." Business North Carolina, 8 June 2026, businessnc.com/atrium-wakemed-make-their-merger-case-to-wake-leaders/. "Residents Fired Up at Town Hall on Proposed WakeMed-Atrium Health Merger." CBS17, WNCN, 27 July 2026, www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-news/residents-fired-up-at-town-hall-on-proposed-wakemed-atrium-health-merger/. Mildenberg, David. "Why WakeMed Only Had Eyes for Atrium." Business North Carolina, May 18, 2026, https://businessnc.com/why-wakemed-only-had-eyes-for-atrium/.

A new report from the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, finds that the economic growth in Durham, North Carolina over the last decade has not reached all of the workers who power the city and its largest employer, Duke University. In fact, the report finds that the gap between Black and white workers has grown wider during Durham’s decade of growth. The report, Working in Durham, documents how the last 10 years have seen an influx of wealth to Durham County due to a sweeping regional tech and biotechnology expansion and the massive footprint of leading employers including Duke University and Duke Health. Yet the benefits of these expansions and new profits have failed to reach Durham’s workers. The report finds that households earning $200,000 or more went from 2.7% of Durham County taxpayers holding about one-fifth of reported income in 2010, to 8.5% of filers holding 40% of reported income by 2022. In other words, Durham's economy is growing, but more income is flowing to the top. “Working and living in Durham is a paycheck-to-paycheck struggle. I love my city but working here and living here is not adding up,” said Ieisha Francis, a Certified Nursing Assistant at an assisted living facility in Durham, N.C. who is profiled in the report. “There’s constant building up in this city, but there’s nothing being built that I can afford. I can tell the people investing in Durham are not invested in our community.” The report also finds: Median household income in Durham County has climbed from roughly $52,000 in 2014 to $79,500 in 2023. Between 2014 and 2023, the median gross rent in Durham County climbed from $877 to $1,415. This represents a real-dollar increase of 25%. In 2014, Black workers in Durham earned 72.5 cents for every dollar earned by white workers. By 2023, that figure had fallen to 62.2 cents. The median hourly wage among Black workers in Durham went essentially nowhere, from $20.97 in 2014 to $20.59 in 2023. The share of Black workers holding low-wage jobs climbed from 31.7% in 2014 to 39.3% in 2023. The median hourly wage among Latino workers in Durham went from $14.87 in 2014 to just $18.26 in 2023. Only about half of employed Latino workers in Durham have health insurance. Duke is a driver of Durham’s divide According to the report, roughly one in five low-wage Black workers in Durham were employed in health care and social assistance, a finding that is consistent in both 2014 and 2023. Duke Health remains the major player in Durham’s health care industry. It plays an outsized role in shaping wages and benefits for the Black workers in Durham who work in the hospital as nurses, receptionists, housekeepers, food service workers, and more. Although Durham’s economy grew significantly, the share of Black households enrolled in public assistance programs like SNAP and Medicaid stayed largely the same between 2014 and 2023. This finding shows that Durham’s economic boom has not lifted Black workers up, but maintained a status quo of low-wage, low-benefit work. “We deserve more than we’re getting,” said Nah’Shon Blount, a housekeeper at Duke. “Even with a $20 minimum wage now, it’s still not enough. We need so much more to be able to keep living in Durham.” Durham’s anchor employers can close the gap Duke and other anchor employers are more than passive beneficiaries of Durham’s recent economic growth. As a major employer of low-wage workers, Duke University and Duke Health play a key role in shaping median wages, household incomes and access to benefits in Durham. “Closing the gap will require Durham’s largest employers to change how they value workers,” the report’s authors write. “Duke University and the private companies driving Durham’s growth must treat job quality for Black and Latino workers as a central responsibility.” Visit here for the full Working in Durham report. This article was first published by Facing South.